It’s time for real talk: the butternut squash edition. Until three weeks ago, I didn’t think that squash was something I liked. Luckily, my craving for pumpkin pie got the best of me and I decided to toughen up and buy a squash. In Spain, they call both pumpkins and butternut squash “calabaza,” and so I decided that if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me (N.B. this logic does not apply to either octopus or swordfish, which I still can’t force myself to enjoy). As it turns out though, my aversion to squash was entirely unfounded. The pie was amazing and since then I’ve made up for lost time by eating my body weight in butternut.
Because it takes an hour to cook the squash, this recipe is good for nights when you’ve got some time to kill or, in my case, nights when your landlady still hasn’t turned on your heat and you need to resort to heating the kitchen with your oven so that you don’t catch frostbite.
Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients
Pasta
1 small butternut squash
Olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
Rosemary or sage
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
Pinenuts
Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper
Instructions
1. Cut the butternut squash in half and scrape out the stringy parts and seeds with a spoon. Cover a pan with foil, grease it with some olive oil, and place the squash halves flesh side down on the pan. Cook for 20-30 minutes on 250ºC until the skin is soft.
2. Peel the skin off with a spoon then use a knife to cut the squash into half inch pieces. Return to the oven for 20-30 more minutes until the edges of the squash start to darken. You can either puree the squash or leave it in cubes.
3. Cook the pasta. While you’re waiting, place the butter in a pan and cook it over medium heat until it browns and starts to smell sweet. Toss in a little rosemary or sage as well as the nutmeg and pine nuts. Remove the pan from the heat and add the roasted squash.
4. Divide the pasta and squash between four plates and sprinkle it with some salt, pepper and parmesan (we only had goat cheese but trust me, stick with parmesan).
om nom nom. I still have half a butternut squash at home, I should get on this.
I MADE SOMETHING KIND OF LIKE THIS but with toasted almonds instead of pine nuts, and without cheese cause dairy, and with earth balance instead of butter, and gluten free pasta.
Anyway whatever it was it was delicious.
you are the bomb, marika. seriously, i love you and your allergy parade and your creativity so hard.
That looks amazing
Best thing to do with butternut squash is to roast it, and then fill it with sauteed mushrooms and green beans (chop these up), and also lots of Cambozola cheese. It is so delicious you will never need another kind of food ever again.
yummmm. I also saw a recipe that involved cooking rice inside a hollowed out squash which is something I’m going to have to try.
Oh Jesus oh jesus oh jesus oh jesus. Someone help me, this recipe suggestion is too much.
It’s way easier to peel butternut squash if you cut it in half right above the bulging part, and then slice the skin off with a knife. Look here:
http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-cut-butternut-squash.html
girl, i wish i could do that but my knives are total shit (i’m in a temporary apartment for 8 months so I don’t have my good ones). I sliced my thumb open last week peeling squash so I went this route this time.
I always imagined cooking butternut squash to be a very labor-intensive venture, but this looks so simple and delicious! Nom!
This post reminded me that I have butternut squash and carrot soup in my fridge….methinks its time for a late night snack.
So I made it less than ten minutes before having an attack of the FEELS. Just reverse the parental rolls and you’ve got my family. Holy FEELS, batman.
I’m going to go sit all ashamed in a corner because I can’t comment on correct articles on the internet. Ugh.
No worries. I have lots of feels about squash too. I think we all do :)
i will not accept even an ounce of shame here. i read this comment first thing when i woke up this morning and i was convinced you were talking about bread rolls and it totally made sense to me.
I once made something like this. I called it squashta which no one else found hilarious except for me. (Squash…pasta…squashta!)
Well anyway, it was awesome, and I currently have a butternut squash sitting on my counter! So, this will probably be dinner tomorrow.
I want to say something witty, but all I can think about is carbs.
can i suggest you try cooking some baby octopus with a little bit of oregano, olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning over an open fire somewhere outside and beautiful because this is an ideal way to enjoy it/try it even if you decide you still dont like it, its a good time.
i believe part of experiencing a place is trying their foods, dipping your fork into their food culture, regional recipes that embody how a people have learned to live off that land. sometimes you dont like it but sometimes its surprisingly delicious.
just a thought, though you know best what you like and dont like.
enjoy spain its so damn gorgeous there
Oh I’m all about trying new things. Unfortunately, both times I’ve eaten octupus here, I thought it tasted like deflated balloons cooked in garlic butter. I’ll eat almost anything in garlic butter, but I couldn’t get over the ballooneyness of it. I tried swordfish too but it was just not something I would have again. But yes, absolutely yes to trying!
In Australia we too call all kinds of pumpkin pumpkin. It is the superior vegetable IMHO, and all the varieties are more or less interchangeable. I was bemused to find that it comes in a can in north america. You wierdos. I’m eating pumpkin and chickpea yellow coconut curry tonight. Yum.
Thanks for the recipe! I love anything that has to do with butternut squash and/or eggplant. I’ll definitely be trying this out! By the way, I live in Spain too, but I’m in Madrid. :)
teach me how to cook eggplant! no matter how many times i try, it comes out bitter even though i know i like it because i’ve enjoyed it when other people cooked it.
Ah, sorry! I didn’t see this before. What I usually do when I cut eggplant into small pieces (like for eggplant parmesan, for example), is I soak it in salt for an hour, then wipe the salt off and dry it with a paper towel. It helps with the bitter taste. I guess you can do the same when roasting it too! Have you tried eggplant with honey yet? It’s popular in Spain.